Behind the most important infrastructure works built in recent years or under construction in Colombia, such as the Bogotá metro, the Avenue 80 light metro in Medellín, the 4G highways or the reactivation of rail corridors like that of La Dorada-Chiriguaná, is the Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN), an entity specialized in mobilizing resources and structuring projects so that they are viable, bankable and durable. It is the only bank of its type in Colombia and one of the few in Latin America.
The FDN began its operations in 2013 to strengthen the technical capacities of the State in terms of infrastructure and promote fourth generation road concessions, known as 4G. Since then, it has become a key player in development. It is only in these concessions that it is one of the most important financiers, with around 15% of the debt, but the main thing is that the remaining 85% comes from private banks or multilateral organizations which have joined largely because the FDN is involved.
Thanks to the financing schemes and public-private participation mechanisms promoted by the entity, the State did not have to assume all the costs and risks of major works. This approach has enabled projects to reach financial close, be executed efficiently, generate jobs and stimulate local, regional and national economies.
Since its creation, the FDN has participated in the financing of 90 billion pesos of 44 infrastructure projects that are today a reality, such as more than 15 4G projects in operation, among which the Magdalena lines 1 and 2, the highway to the sea, the Pacific connection 3 and the third lane of the Bogotá-Girardot highway.
In other programs, it has structured 50 projects that total investments of more than 80 billion pesos, such as the first two lines of the Bogota metro, several main lines of the TransMilenio, the 80 metro in Medellín and the Bosa Hospital, the first hospital center in the country built through a public-private alliance. In their structuring, FDN experts analyze the technical, legal, financial, fiscal and socio-environmental aspects of projects to ensure that they are executed on time and within budget, and thus avoid delays, cost overruns and disputes.
The FDN is linked to the Ministry of Finance and has the National Government as majority shareholder, through the Bicentenario Group (73.36%). However, its nature is mixed, since it has three minority partners who have provided international standards and good practices: the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and the Latin American Development Bank (CAF). This training allowed him to gain autonomy and become a model not only for Latin America, but also for the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and the international banking sector.
This importance is explained by a growing and solid technical team, highly specialized, led today by the president of the entity, Francisco Lozano Gamba, who has more than 25 years of experience in the infrastructure and project financing sector.
They started with road infrastructure
In its early years, the FDN focused on road infrastructure, but after Lozano’s arrival in 2020, it expanded its mission to other sectors. “We have the technical capacity to assume leadership in the market, mobilizing the financial resources necessary for projects in the road, air, port, energy sectors, as well as social infrastructure in education and health,” says Lozano.
As the entity has strengthened itself by offering specific financial products to the market, project structuring has been consolidated as a characteristic element of its work. “With structuring, we seek to resolve, based on knowledge from various disciplines, key questions about which aspects should be taken into account in the subsequent execution of the project,” explains Rafael Herz, Vice President of Structuring and Investment Banking at FDN. “We also work to spread risks between the public and private sectors, where both participate. In this way, we serve as a bridge between the needs and priorities of the state and the interests of the private sector.”
Today, the entity works on structuring urban mobility projects such as line 3 of the Bogota metro, the overhead cables of La Calera and Soacha, in Cundinamarca, or trains such as the suburban trains of Valle del Cauca or Boyacá; and in large social infrastructure projects such as the National University Teaching Hospital, the new Simón Bolívar Hospital in Bogotá and the Kennedy University Multicampus, also in the capital.
In terms of financing, the FDN has a portfolio of more than 8 trillion pesos, which between 2019 and 2025 increased 3.5 times. This year, it participated in the closing of the Buga-Buenaventura 5G road project for P3.66 billion, with a senior loan of P290,000 million. It also financed the entire senior debt of the Renacer electricity substation project in Mocoa, which will improve the reliability of energy service in Putumayo and promote future residential, commercial and industrial developments. Likewise, it signed a loan with the IDB of $138.5 million to finance energy transition projects, which allows for lower-cost financing. The first two are Sol-Kai, which will bring solar energy to 3,000 people in La Guajira, and Puerta de Oro, the largest photovoltaic park in the country, which will produce more than 700 GWh of clean energy per year, enough to power some 390,000 homes.
The FDN has obtained nearly 40 international recognitions, granted by the main references in the sector, from unions to specialized media. Only in 2025 did it add the prize for best urban transport financing, awarded by the publication Latin Finance as co-financier of line 1 of the Bogota metro; the Energy Excellence Award, from the Latin American Energy Organization (Olade), for financing the Puerta de Oro solar park; and the GRI Awards Infrastructure Andean, for the overall structuring of the future line 2 of the Bogotá metro.
The entity has played an important role in financing projects, attracting other financiers and investors, as well as reducing and spreading the risks involved. She has developed solid knowledge in the financing and structuring of specialized projects, has generated experiences and knowledge to design new generations of concessions or public works contracts and is ready, says Lozano, to be an ally that allows local or regional projects to be carried out, because if there is one thing she is convinced of, it is that there are resources for well-structured projects.
About The Author
